LWW Book: Breaking The Witch's Wand

On 3 Feb 2006 15:53:21 -0800, "Bart" <spambuster.TakeThisOut@jam.rr.com> wrote:

>Tim Bruening wrote:
>> Beginning of Chapter 13: Peter credits Edmund with having broken the
>> White Witch's wand so that she couldn't stone any more people. Edmund
>> had the sense to go for the wand. No one else had the presence of mind
>> to attack the wand instead of the witch. Why didn't anyone else have
>> the common sense to break the wand?

I can imagine that: people being intimidated by the power coming from the
wand, unable to withstand its magic -- and not thinking of simply attacking
it as a physical object (from the side iirc). They might assume that the
wand would stone them by touch if they tried, or that it would be protected
by some other magic. Edmund had the courage to try it.


>> Why hadn't Aslan told Peter and his
>> army to place a high priority on breaking the wand?

A good point.


>I suppose it may be that the big picture was to focus on defeating the
>Witch's army and not on the details of a specific strategy for
>defeating the Witch as an individual (even though, as an individual,
>she had one of the most powerful weapons in the wand).
>
>It's one of those things that you don't think about at the time, but in
>hindsight it was sort of like - duh - why didn't we think of that?
>
>Edmund was the only one that *did* think of it and is therefore praised
>for his "presence of mind".


As for Aslan not suggesting it, I think this is one of several instances of
story-telling and alle-er-woops, parallel thematic motifs, trumping common
sense. Lewis said Edmund was fighting more fiercely than the others, so he
would be trying harder to think of something new. As for him fighting
harder -- iirc Lewis rather liked to quote "Those heresies men leave are
hated most.


Bree
--
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He was dead during this. And Edmund learned the witch needs her wand
while being with her.
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SS13 wrote:

> He was dead during this. And Edmund learned the witch needs her wand
> while being with her.

Why hadn't Aslan given Peter's army a heads up about the wand BEFORE
allowing the White Witch to kill him? Why didn't Edmund given Peter a
heads up about the wand before the battle?
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In rec.arts.sf.written Tim Bruening <tsbrueni.DeleteThis@pop.dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote:
[snip]
> Why hadn't Aslan given Peter's army a heads up about the wand BEFORE
> allowing the White Witch to kill him? Why didn't Edmund given Peter a
> heads up about the wand before the battle?

Aslan doesn't like spoilers or cheat codes?

--
------------------------stremler.DeleteThis@rohan.sdsu.edu----------------------------
- It's such pleasure to write down splendid words -- -
- almost as though one were inventing them. -
- -- Ruper Hart-Davis -
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stremler RemoveThis @rohan.sdsu.edu wrote:

> In rec.arts.sf.written Tim Bruening <tsbrueni RemoveThis @pop.dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote:
> [snip]
> > Why hadn't Aslan given Peter's army a heads up about the wand BEFORE
> > allowing the White Witch to kill him? Why didn't Edmund given Peter a
> > heads up about the wand before the battle?
>
> Aslan doesn't like spoilers or cheat codes?

Wouldn't defeating the witch take precedence over concern about cheat codes?
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Sea Wasp wrote:

> Tim Bruening wrote:
> >
> > stremler.RemoveThis@rohan.sdsu.edu wrote:
> >
> >
> >>In rec.arts.sf.written Tim Bruening <tsbrueni.RemoveThis@pop.dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote:
> >>[snip]
> >>
> >>>Why hadn't Aslan given Peter's army a heads up about the wand BEFORE
> >>>allowing the White Witch to kill him? Why didn't Edmund given Peter a
> >>>heads up about the wand before the battle?
> >>
> >>Aslan doesn't like spoilers or cheat codes?
> >
> >
> > Wouldn't defeating the witch take precedence over concern about cheat codes?
> >
>
> Not on the cosmic level. It's all about following the rules. If
> you're omnipotent, or almost so, the ONLY way to actually have any fun
> and challenge is if you ABIDE by your rules at ALL times, even when
> that could seriously screw you.

Why would advising Peter's army to break the wand violate Aslan's rules?
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Sea Wasp <seawaspobvious DeleteThis @obvioussgeinc.com> writes:

> Not on the cosmic level. It's all about following the
> rules. If you're omnipotent, or almost so, the ONLY way to actually
> have any fun and challenge is if you ABIDE by your rules at ALL times,
> even when that could seriously screw you.

An omnipotent being's rules are not worth that much. He can always
change the rules so that nobody will ever have known that they could
have been different.
--
Peter B. Juul, o.-.o "15000 atheists in London rioted today
The RockBear. ((^)) after a blank sheet of paper was found
I speak only 0}._.{0 on a cartoonist's desk"
for myself. O/ \O -anon.
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"Peter B. Juul" <p4 DeleteThis @enzym.rnd.uni-c.dk> wrote in message
news:m2lkvw2xd6.fsf@enzym.rnd.uni-c.dk...
> Sea Wasp <seawaspobvious DeleteThis @obvioussgeinc.com> writes:
>
>> Not on the cosmic level. It's all about following the
>> rules. If you're omnipotent, or almost so, the ONLY way to actually
>> have any fun and challenge is if you ABIDE by your rules at ALL times,
>> even when that could seriously screw you.
>
> An omnipotent being's rules are not worth that much. He can always
> change the rules so that nobody will ever have known that they could
> have been different.

And you and I can cheat at solitaire. Not very satisfying, is it?
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Dan Drake wrote:

> On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 00:21:52 UTC, Sea Wasp
> <seawaspobvious.RemoveThis@obvioussgeinc.com> wrote:
>
> > Peter B. Juul wrote:
> > > Sea Wasp <seawaspobvious.RemoveThis@obvioussgeinc.com> writes:
> > >
> > >
> > >> Not on the cosmic level. It's all about following the
> > >>rules. If you're omnipotent, or almost so, the ONLY way to actually
> > >>have any fun and challenge is if you ABIDE by your rules at ALL times,
> > >>even when that could seriously screw you.
> > >
> > >
> > > An omnipotent being's rules are not worth that much. He can always
> > > change the rules so that nobody will ever have known that they could
> > > have been different.
> >
> > But HE would know. That's the only standard that matters. There's no
> > challenge if you change the rules whenever you're losing.
> >
>
> By the same token the thought experiment of Schroedinger's Cat is an
> insult to cats. Long before you open the box, the cat knows whether it's
> being poisoned or not.

Couldn't Aslan give himself amnesia?
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"Mike Schilling" <mscottschilling.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> writes:

> > An omnipotent being's rules are not worth that much. He can always
> > change the rules so that nobody will ever have known that they could
> > have been different.
>
> And you and I can cheat at solitaire. Not very satisfying, is it?

Ah, but can an omnipotent being change a rule so that he doesn't know
it's been changed?

... oh bother.

Back to rocks, I guess.

--
Peter B. Juul, o.-.o
The RockBear. ((^))
I speak only 0}._.{0
for myself. O/ \O
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In rec.arts.sf.written Tim Bruening <tsbrueni.DeleteThis@pop.dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote:
> Dan Drake wrote:
>> On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 00:21:52 UTC, Sea Wasp
>> <seawaspobvious.DeleteThis@obvioussgeinc.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Peter B. Juul wrote:
>> > > Sea Wasp <seawaspobvious.DeleteThis@obvioussgeinc.com> writes:
>> > >
>> > >> Not on the cosmic level. It's all about following the
>> > >>rules. If you're omnipotent, or almost so, the ONLY way to actually
>> > >>have any fun and challenge is if you ABIDE by your rules at ALL times,
>> > >>even when that could seriously screw you.
>> > >
>> > > An omnipotent being's rules are not worth that much. He can always
>> > > change the rules so that nobody will ever have known that they could
>> > > have been different.
>> >
>> > But HE would know. That's the only standard that matters. There's no
>> > challenge if you change the rules whenever you're losing.
>>
>> By the same token the thought experiment of Schroedinger's Cat is an
>> insult to cats. Long before you open the box, the cat knows whether it's
>> being poisoned or not.
>
> Couldn't Aslan give himself amnesia?

Perish at the thought!

--
Stewart Stremler stremler.DeleteThis@rohan.sdsu.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't trust reality. After all, it's only a collective hunch.
~ Signal 11 (/.)
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In rec.arts.sf.written Sea Wasp <seawaspobvious DeleteThis @obvioussgeinc.com> wrote:
> Peter B. Juul wrote:
[snip]
>> An omnipotent being's rules are not worth that much. He can always
>> change the rules so that nobody will ever have known that they could
>> have been different.
>
> But HE would know. That's the only standard that matters. There's no
> challenge if you change the rules whenever you're losing.

I think that some people don't believe that. They cheat at solitare;
it's practically part of their game. They use aimbots in FPS games.
They save-scum in rogue and nethack.

I don't think that kind of person would understand having the power to
cheat and *not* doing so. It makes no sense to them at all.

I think there might be a couple of other reasons why Aslan didn't say
"look, you pumpkin-heads, her wand is the key to her power; don't do
the head-on attack thing" -- one, this would have deprived Edmund of
the chance to redeem himself (to himself, as Aslan had already redeemed
him to the Deep Magic), and two, to steal a line from _The Matrix_: "There's
a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."

--
--stremler DeleteThis @rohan.sdsu.edu-----------------------------------Stewart Stremler--
However, to "lazy and short-sighted" you can add "in pursuit of fashion".
-- Charlie Gibbs (1998)
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stremler.DeleteThis@rohan.sdsu.edu wrote:

> In rec.arts.sf.written Sea Wasp <seawaspobvious.DeleteThis@obvioussgeinc.com> wrote:
> > Peter B. Juul wrote:
> [snip]
> >> An omnipotent being's rules are not worth that much. He can always
> >> change the rules so that nobody will ever have known that they could
> >> have been different.
> >
> > But HE would know. That's the only standard that matters. There's no
> > challenge if you change the rules whenever you're losing.
>
> I think that some people don't believe that. They cheat at solitare;
> it's practically part of their game. They use aimbots in FPS games.
> They save-scum in rogue and nethack.
>
> I don't think that kind of person would understand having the power to
> cheat and *not* doing so. It makes no sense to them at all.
>
> I think there might be a couple of other reasons why Aslan didn't say
> "look, you pumpkin-heads, her wand is the key to her power; don't do
> the head-on attack thing" -- one, this would have deprived Edmund of
> the chance to redeem himself (to himself, as Aslan had already redeemed
> him to the Deep Magic), and two, to steal a line from _The Matrix_: "There's
> a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."

Aslan didn't think that anyone but Edmund would be able to attack the wand?
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